Buttonhole sewing apparatus



Aug. 26, 1969- J. F. ANSEL m BUTTONHOLE SEW'ING APPARATUS 3 Sheets- Sheet 1 Filed June 19, 1967 INVENTOR.

Aug. 26, 1969 J. F. ANSEL m ,4

BUTTONHOLE SEWING APPARATUS Filed June 19, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTOR.

Aug. 26, 1969 J. F. ANSEL m BUTTONHOLE SEWING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 19 1967 ,III

INVENTOR. a set US. Cl. Ill-121.15 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sewing machine for sewing buttonholes in garment parts. such as shirt fronts, the machine having an indexing clamp for drawing the shirt front successively from one point of buttonhole sewing to. another, there being provided supporting means over which the shirt front is moved and which means includes an edge over which the shirt front is angularly folded, the clamp engaging one end of the shirt front. A second or travelling clam is slidably mounted on the supporting means and it engages the secnd end of the shirt front so that the shirt front is tensioned over the edge of the support between the two clamps. Means is provided for imposing a drag on the travelling clamp to secure the required tension on the shirt front and means is also provided for freeing the travelling clamp from its engagement with the shirt front and for returning the travelling clamp to its initial or starting position when the position of sewing of the last buttonhole is reached.

The invention has reference to means for sewing buttonholes, or possibly performing other sewing operations on garments or garment pans, and more specifically shirt fronts, and the invention particularly relates to means for holding the garment part under tension during the indexing operations.

In the production of buttonholes or example, on shirt fronts, it is necessary that the buttonholes be sewn not only at accurately spaced locations on the shirt front, but also in uniformly spaced position from the front edge of the garment part. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide means for attachment to a known type of buttonhole sewing machine, for example, one of the so-called sequential types, which means will apply tension to the shirt front as it proceeds from one point of buttonhole production to the next, thereby insuring the production of all of the sewing operations on the buttonholes at a like distance from the front, folded edge of the shirt front.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown,

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of various elements of a sewing machine such as that known as a sequential type. with the improved tension-applying means attached thereto;

FIG. 2 shows a shirt front portion on which the position of the buttonholes is indicated;

FIG. 3 shows the tension-applying means in its simplest form;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the means disclosed in FIG. I;

FIG. 5 is an under view of the plate on which the travelling clamp and its associated parts are mounted;

FIG. 6 shows the travelling clamp and some of its associated parts;

FIG. 7 shows the mounting and guide plates;

FIG. 8 shows one means for retracting the travelling clamp, and

FIG. 9 is a top plan view through the pulley shaft on which a clutch is provided.

nited States Patent 0 "ice The tension-applying means in its simplest form is shown in FIG. 3 and the elements of the sewing machine'with which the tension means is associated, are disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 4.

Referring to the drawings, and to the figures thereof just mentioned, 1 indicates the head of a conventional type of buttonhole sewing machine as located on one of the sequential types and which is employed for sewing buttonholes at properly spaced locations, such as along the folded front edge portion 2 of a shirt front 3.

Such sewing machine is conventionally provided with an indexing or feeding clamp 4 which moves vertically in guides 5 and is driven from a drive chain 6 (FIG. 4). The clamp 4 and associated parts are part of the conventional sequential sewing machine. v

At 7 is shown a supporting plate or table, mounted on brackets, said plate being shown in one form in FIG. 3 and it has an edge 10 which is arranged at an inclination or angularly in respect to the direction of-travel of the shirt front. The plate 7 has an upwardly-extending guide flange 11 along one of its longitudinal edges against which the folded front edge 2 of the shirt front 3 is positioned at the start of the sewing operations and which guides the shirt front during its movement under the pull of the indexing clump 4 in the direction of the arrow shown at 12 in FIG. 3. The. brackets which support the plate 7 are shown at 8 and 9.

At 13 is shown a travelling clamp which is slidable onthe plate 7 and longitudinally of the same, the clamp being slidable back and forth along the flange 11 as indicated by the arrow 14 in FIG. 3. Normally, the travelling clamp 13 is in the retracted position shown in FIG. 3, being biased to such position by any suitable means, such as a spring 15, which has one end attached to a pin 16 projecting from the clamp 13, and its other end attached to a bracket 17 secured to and projecting from one end of the plate 7.'A weight or other means tending to bias the clamp 13 toward the position shown in FIG. 3 might also be used or other means can be empioyed for exerting a drag on the fabric piece while it is being pulled along by the indexing clamp 4.

From the foregoing. the operation of the apparatus dis- .closed in FIG. 3 will be readily understood. The shirt front 3 or other garment part on which the sewing operations are to take place, is placed flatly on top of the supporting plate 7 substantially as shown in FIG. 3. The folded forward edge 2 of the shirt from is placed evenly against the guiding flange 11 and the top portion l8 of the shirt front is folded over the angularly disposed edge 10 of the plate 7 to bring the portion 19 of the shirt front to a position where the point of location at 20a of the first buttonhole is directly under the sewing machine needle as at 2011. It will be noted that the portion 19 of the shirt front is exposed due to the fact that the greater portion of the shirt front is arranged angularly to said part 19.

The indexing clamp 4 is arranged with the upper end of the shirt from grasped by it and the travelling clamp 13 is-engaged with the lower or tail end of the shirt front. As the indexing clamp 4 is moved to bring the shirt front from one point of buttonhole production to the next point, the travelling clamp 13 resists such movement, exerting a drag on the fabric piece, thus constantly holding the shirt front perfectly flat and stretched on the plate 7, insuring the correct spacing of the buttonholes from the edge 2 of the shirt front.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 inclusive, means is provided for actuating the travelling clamp 13 to insure its opening and closing at the proper times. Means is also provided for retracting or returning the clamp 13 to its starting position after the position of the .last buttonhole on the shirt front reaches the sewing machine needle.

The return of the travelling clamp 13 back to its initial or starting position is shown substantially in FIG. and at which position the travelling clamp 13 is open, so that at this time the tail end of the shirt front can be inserted in the clamp, is had by means of a motor 27, having a flexible drive shaft 26, operating through a clutch 25 and which, through a chain and sprocket drive, controls the movement of the travelling clamp to its return position. The clutch thus engages a sprocket 28 receiving a chain 29 tensioned by an idler 30, rotative in a bracket 31 secured to the under side of the mounting plate 7a. The chain 29 is attached to the travelling clamp 13 by the screw 49 or other fastening means. The plate 7a is secured at one end by screws 32 (FIG. 7) to the guide plate 33 provided with the angular edge heretofore described.

The drive chain 29 extends around sprocket 34 rotative on an axle 35 at the end of the plate 7a remote from the clutch. The drive elements just described are mounted at the underside of the plate 7a.

In the embodiment of the invention disclosed in FIGS. 5 to 7, the travelling clamp 13 is slidable back and forth on parallel guide rods 35a which are mounted at the underside of the plate 7a in insulated supporting blocks 36 and 37.

In placing a shirt front in position for the sewing of its buttonholes, the shirt front is folded and inserted around the cloth plate 33 and under the sewing foot of the machine. The lower end portion 19 of the shirt front is inserted in the then-open travelling clamp 13 and remains therein. A cycle start button shown at 38a located adjacent to the control box 38 is pressed and a solenoid 40 carried by the travelling clamp 13 causes the closure of the clamp to grip the fabric. As the indexing clamp 4 moves the shirt front from one buttonhole to the next.

the clamp 13 is pulled along and it exerts sufiicient drag 0n the shirt front to constantly maintain it under tension. When the point of sewing of the last buttonhole is reached, the arm 39 on the sewing machine indexing clamp 4 comes into contact with an indexing stop switch which returns the indexing clamp 4 to its starting position. At substantially the same time, the solenoid 40 becomes deenergized and the travelling clamp 13 opens to release the shirt front. Also at this time the clutch 25 is caused to engage sprocket 28 and the continuously running motor 27 then becomes effective to drive the sprocket 28, which through the medium of the chain 29 and the sprockets 28, 30 and 35, slides the travelling clamp 13 back to its starting position which is substantially that shown in FIG. 1. Here the travelling clamp 13 contacts a switch 42 which frees the clutch and halts the movement of the travelling clamp 13. The apparatus is then in readiness for the insertion of another shirt front for the next buttonhole sewing operation. The finished shirt fronts, when removed from the sewing apparatus, can be stacked upon a conveniently located rack 43.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the travelling clamp 13 is retracted by means of a cable 44 connected at one end to the travelling clamp 13 and at its other end to a take-up pulley 45. One or more suitable guide rollers or idlers 46 may be used between the clamp 13 and the take-up pulley 45. Pulley 45 is driven by a motor 25a through a clutch 25.

When the travelling clamp 13 opens at the end of its forward travel as heretofore explained, the clutch couples the pulley 45 to the'motor 27 and the pulley 45 will then be rotated to bring the clampil3 back to the starting position where the clamp will then contact the, switch 42 to halt the movement of the clamp.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for sewing buttonholes on garment 4 parts comprising, a sewing machine, a support for a folded garment part, clamps engaging the garment part at its opposite ends, the first of said clamps being an indexing clamp moved by the sewing machine to progressively move the garment part to successive sewing positions, the second clamp being a travelling clamp exerting resistance on the garment part to hold said part under ten sion, means for causing the opening of the travelling clamp, means for moving the traveling clamp in a direction away from the indexing clamp, said means com prising a motor, a pulley, a clutch for coupling the pulley to the motor, and a cable connected at one end to the travelling clamp and at its other end to the pulley, and means for ceasing operation of the travelling clampmoving means when the clamp moved thereby reaches a predetermined position.

2. In an apparatus for sewing buttonholes on the front of a garment part such as the portion of a shirt, a support on which the shirt front is rested, said support having a diagonally-extending edge over which the shirt from is angularly drawn, a travelling clamp slidably mounted on the support and engaging the shirt front at one end, a sewing machine including an indexing clamp, the travelling clamp being mounted for bodily movement toward or away from the indexing clamp, the indexing clamp engaging the shirt front at its opposite end, spring means for resisting the bodily movement of the travelling clamp in a direction toward the indexing clamp, the indexing clamp being effective by its movement to pull the travelling clamp toward it through the medium of the shirt front while holding the shirt front under tension and with the shirt front having the points of location of the buttonholes successively registered with the needle of the sewing machine, means for releasing the travelling clamp from its engagement with the shirt front when the shirt front is brought after the point of swing of the last buttonhole, means for simultaneously releasing the grip of the indexing clamp on the shirt front and means for returning the travelling clamp to its starting point.

.3. In an apparatus for sewing buttonholes on a shirt front, a sewing machine having an indexing clamp for engaging one end of a shirt front and moving the shirt front from one point of buttonhole location to another, a support on which a shirt front is rested and witha portion of the shirt front disposed under the support and which latter portion of the shirt front receives the sewing of the buttonholes, the support having an edge over which the shirt front extends to thereby bring its under portion into sewing position, said edge being diagonal, a travelling clamp slidable on the support and bodily movable to or from the indexing clamp, means for resisting movement of the travelling clamp in a direction toward the indexing clamp, the travelling clamp engaging the shirt front at its second. end, means for releasing the engagement of the indexing clamp on the shirt front after the point of sewing of the last buttonhole is reached, means for opening the travelling clamp substantially simultaneously with the opening of the indexing clamp and returning means for the travelling clamp, said means being effective to return the travelling clamp to its starting position after both of the clamps have opened.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,989,013 6/1961 MCGill et a1. 2,989,934 6/1961 Zeitlin. 3,151,583 10/ l 964 Troll ct al. 3,361,094 l/l968 Bono.

JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner 

